FORT WORTH, Texas ― Even a quick glance of the world standings
looks unusual.

While it might not seem strange to see the two-time defending
World Champion atop the standings, until this year, Silvano
Alves has never been the No. 1 rider in the world prior to
the summer break from the Built Ford Tough Series.

This year he's been the top-ranked rider for the entire month of
January.

While any rider ranked in the Top 35 is capable of winning any
given event, recent years have shown it a bit unusual to see the
likes of Shane Proctor, Douglas
Duncan, Jordan Hupp and Jory
Markiss all ranked in the Top 10 after four of 25 BFTS
events leading up to the World Finals.

Of the four, only Proctor has ever finished a season ranked in
the Top 10 ― that was in 2011 when he finished ninth ― but he's
coming off an injury-plagued season in which he missed qualifying
for the Finals.

But even more unusual is the fact that after Robson
Palermo won the opening BFTS event in New York, the next
three BFTS events have been won by a trio of alternates ―
Billy Robinson, 19; Proctor, 2, and Sean
Willingham, 6 ― who are set to be seeded in the Top 35
following this weekend's event in Sacramento, Calif.

"That just goes to show that the guys (who) are riding at the
Touring Pro (Division) are just as hungry as the guys (who) are
riding here each and every week," Willingham said. "When you get
that opportunity you (have) to capitalize when you get here."

All of which leads to the most unusual statistic (or lack
thereof).

After years of Brazilian dominance the single-most asked
question is: what happened to the Brazilians?

"That's a good question," Ty Murray said.

"You're also looking at a group of American bull riders, that
the last few years, are getting a little sick of Brazil dominating
them," said Murray, in his weekly Podcast, "and Brazil has been -
no question. It's almost like there's a tide in sports and I don't
know if it's the start of seeing those guys get to a point where
they're ready to rise up and do what it takes to compete with these
guys or if it's just kind of different injuries we're seeing
throughout the guys right now, but it can be a lot of factors."

There are only two Brazilians - Alves, 1, and Palermo, 8 -
ranked in the Top 10 after a season in which seven finished 2012 in
the Top 10 and the Top 6 finishers in the average at the Finals
were all Brazilian.

Equally surprising is the fact that only six are in the Top
20.

However, perhaps, they're still on their way given the fact that
five more are ranked between 21st and 35th.

Alves was 0-for-3 in Oklahoma City and has bucked off four in a
row. He's never bucked off as many as five BFTS bulls in a row
since making his debut in April 2010 and only two other times has
bucked off four in a row (both streaks took place in 2010).

Along with Marchi, Edevaldo Ferreira and
Emilio Resende have gotten off to slow starts,
while Renato Nunes and Marco
Eguchi have been inconsistent and, of course,
Fabiano Vieira and Valdiron de
Oliveira have been injured.

Vieira and Oliveira are expected to miss significant time.

According to Dr. Tandy Freeman, Vieira will be out six to eight
weeks after fracturing his right ankle. He elected non-operative
treatment. Oliveira is believed to have undergone back surgery in
Brazil and his return is uncertain. However, fellow riders have
said the 33-year-old ― Oliveira turns 34 in June ― is planning to
return to the U.S. at some point in February.

In the meantime, relative newcomers like Nathan
Schaper, 11, and Brant Atwood, 17,
continue riding their way up the world standings.

Schaper won the first 15/15 Bucking Battle, in Winston-Salem,
N.C., when he covered RFD HD for 89 points. The second of several
15/15 events will take place this weekend in Sacramento.

Atwood, who earned an alternate spot last in Oklahoma City, has
finished in the Top 10 in three of the four BFTS events he's
competed in.

The 25-year-old has ridden in one event in each of the previous
three seasons, but is finally poised for a breakout season in
2013.

A lot could and likely will change over the course of the next
nine months.

The Top 10 are within 1,000 points of one another.

Seven riders right outside of the Top 35 are all within 100
points of Lowe, who is the 35th-ranked rider and 15 riders are
within 200 points.

In keeping with the unusual theme of 2013, six riders who began
the season in the Top 35 have some ground to make up this
weekend.

Stormy Wing, 37, and Brendon
Clark, 38, are less than 50 points behind Lowe, while
Caleb Sanderson, 43, and Harve
Stewart, 44, are slightly less than 150 points outside of
the Top 35.

Austin Meier, 62, and Ryan
Dirteater, 63, are right at needing to make up 250 points
to qualify for the Anaheim, Calif., event and already 1,900 points
off the world title pace.

"I feel like my old self again, I guess you would say," Meier
explained, "where I'm not trying to force things to happen. Now I
feel good again … but in this game it's a two-part course. You've
got to have the right bulls and on paper I had the right bulls to
win."

He added that one bull hipped himself and another had a
less-than-typical trip.

As a result, Meier said it's important for him to stay excited.
"That's the thing right now, now that I feel good again in myself
and how I'm doing, I can be excited because I feel like it's not so
much that I'm not doing this right or I'm not doing that right,
it's just waiting on my moment."

Oliveira has yet compete in 2013, but will have five injury
exemptions when he returns.

The only other rider who was initially ranked among the Top 35
and not currently there is Davi Henrique. The
second-year pro from Brazil has been suspended from BFTS
competition and the World Finals for one year. He is eligible to
compete at international and Touring Pro Division events.